wagonman

Here in the Glaven Valley we have a plethora of churches, two of which can be seen simultaneously on what was opposite sides of the estuary. Cley has a large nave built in the C14 on the site – and presumably the alignment – of an earlier church, Wiveton I suspect is original. Viewed together their orientation is clearly different by as much as 10 degrees. As to which is correct I cannot say. Must go out with a compass and have a measure...

There were also Pyramus and Thisbe, from memory on the S&MR, but Hesperus was the evening star. Longfellow used the name for his doomed ship in the Wreck of the Hesperus' which no doubt got trotted out every time the loco(s) left the track...

In the Hemyock photo the GWR open is coloured green, as indeed is one of the coaches, which probably gives a good idea as to the accuracy of such things.

Ah yes, my look through of volume 2 was too cursory! Russell dates the photo to 1910 which is clearly wrong as the NSR wagon is in post 1912 livery (according to Chadwick). My original estimate of the date still stands.

From memory, the NSR introduced their large lettering style in 1912 so the photo is likely to be after the introduction of common user arrangements. As you surmise C&G Ayres were GWR cartage agents for many years. I'm puzzled by your reference to GWR Miscellany p.183 as my copy doesn't have any page numbers, only plate numbers, and those only go up to 178. I have definitely seen the photo reproduced somewhere but can't for the moment find it. If it's in a Russell book I wouldn't necessarily trust the caption too much... Many years ago, back in my EM gauge days, I 'converted' a D299 kit into a D351. I might even have it somewhere still.

If you want a plausible model of a railway go for Rice or Norman. If all you want is to titivate your toy train go for Freezer.

As you can see from Edwardian's photo the Box Tanks were an old and rather primitive design dating back to the 1850s. They were designed as contractors' locos so were light and not terribly powerful – essentially a substitute for half a dozen horses. The later ones with the ogee tanks had 12" cylinders and were a bit more powerful. High Level do an excellent kit in 4mm scale, Springside a rather more basic one in 7mm. So far as I know nobody does a kit for the Box Tanks so that would be a scratchbuilding job (likely including the wheels!). The little Neilson tanks are appealing in an odd sort of way – I have a definite hankering for one of the ogee tanks...

Correct, but I would assume from looking at the photo they were typical 15' long x 7' 3" or so wide (external) and about 3' 2" deep – a bit small for a 10-ton wagon which might explain why they're using large lumps of coal as 'greedy boards' to increase the capacity. The latest issue of Pannier (GWSG Journal) has a drawing by Len Tavender of a similar wagon, though rated 8-tons, after conversion to spring buffers as it was when on hire to the GWR in the Edwardian period. It has the typical Birmingham design features of the period. PS: wheelbase probably 8' 6", or even 8' 3" in dead buffer days. Tavender's drawing of a reconstructed/converted wagon shows 9' 0" w/b.

I think I've found the earliest wagons. They did indeed come from Birmingham and were again 10-tons. Nos 1-5 were financed by the wagon co too and were dispatched on 29 April 1873. Registration was by the GWR that same month. Birmingham repaired them for £3 5s per wagon per year, rising to £3 17s 6d from May 1876, but it doesn't seem to say how much the 'rental' was. The order book recorded their name as "George Palmer, Samuel Palmer and William Isaac Palmer trading as Huntley & Palmers of Reading". So who was Huntley? Oops, just found the answer to that question http://www.huntleyandpalmers.org.uk/ixbin/hixclient.exe?a=query&p=huntley&f=generic_theme.htm&_IXFIRST_=1&_IXMAXHITS_=1&%3dtheme_record_id=rm-rm-factory_content1&s=7FKeelTMttB I hope this is not too much information!

There's no guarantee that the hand tinting would have been accurate, indeed quite unlikely...

Your surmise is correct. I've not managed to find the dumb buffered wagons but they must have been 1-5 as 6-10 were bought new for cash from the Birmingham wagon co in 1889 and they were 10-ton wagons with iron underframes and of course spring buffers. Then came 11-20, again new for cash from Brimingham, in April 1903 – as before but now the underframes are steel. So that means the Gloucester batch must have been 21-25. Presumably all registered by the GWR. My Birmingham records only cover rented wagons though many of them were later sold. Reading is a bit outside my territory – I'm presently working on Wiltshire with an addendum for Somerset as inevitably more info has come to light since the book was published. Ian Pope is working on Berkshire/Oxfordshire/Bucks I believe.

My source is the Gloucester RC&WCo Agenda Books which are in Gloucester Records Office. I'm sure they had other batches of wagons, but not from Gloucester. I'll have a hunt through to see what I can find – I think there was something in one of the GWR registers.

The small door stops were usually fitted to the non-brake side. Later retro-fitted with the long springy type on both sides. Some of the later 4-planks also had the short door stops on the non-brake side.

No.21 was one of a batch of five wagons ordered in October 1908 together with a 7 year repair contract. The wagons were new and H&P paid cash. I don't as yet know what the other numbers were...

That is presumably to avoid having a facing point on the main line and all its associated gubbins. Such arrangements were not uncommon.

And very nice it looks too! Glad to have helped.

Methinks someone has been reading too much Dan Brown. Some say one page is too much...

It's interesting that with the Worsdell boiler, straight footplate and NER tender it's only the cab that betrays it as a McDonell design.

These predated the Diagram Book having been built in the 1880s. Ordinary "double-lever brakes" on one side only – they were NEVER fitted with DC brakes. They were rated to carry 8 tons when originally built with grease 'boxes, but were uprated to 10 tons when fitted with oil 'boxes in 1900s. Suitable numbers 22332, 22583, 27655, 35236, 37023, and 37291. Production ceased in 1886 when the GWR switched to iron bodied vans – the famous Iron Minks. By the way, 27655 was one of the last batch produced and had steel channel solebars in place of bulb iron but this is pretty much impossible to see in a 4mm scale model. Is this enough to be getting on with?

Whoops!

There's a copy in my book.... "Private Owner Wagons of Somerset" Lightmoor Press :-)

The S&DJR operated a CCT lettered for S & A Fuller, coachbuilders of Bath. It was n.11 in the S&D fleet and was used by them for regular traffic when not required by Fullers. In dark blue with lots of gold lettering it must have been quite a sight!

Your inner fears are justified. The number and location really ought to be on the bottom plank... Re-wetting the transfers might help get them off (it's a long time since I used Pressfix as I prefer Methfix but usually end up trying to hand letter). Richard

Mauve, one of the earliest aniline dyes, 'invented' by W H Perkins in 1859, was very fashionable in the 1890s. Richard

Interesting. Much of London was roofed in slate from the C18 at least and improved shipping must have had much to do with that, but I think it was the railways that enabled the increased production of welsh slate in the mid C19 to penetrate so many new markets, most of them inland. Slate does start to appear on vernacular buildings in Norfolk from the late 1880s though it never becomes universal. Now even brand new houses have to have pantiled roofs and some token flints glued on! But that's a planning issue.